I'm Just Sayin'...
By Matthew Scott

NASCAR Needs More Restrictor Plate Races
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

There are many in NASCAR Nation who will want to vilify me after reading this, but that won't stop me from saying it: NASCAR needs more restrictor plate races.

Following the Aarons 499 at Talladega on Sunday, I was watching the IndyCar race on ESPN2. The ubiquitous "Bottom Line" crawled across my screen until, eventually, results from the NASCAR race were displayed. Since I had switched away before the unofficial results had been shown on the Fox broadcast, and not knowing exactly how the final "big one" had impacted those final standings, I paid close attention to the results. I was a little surprised to see that Jeff Gordon had dropped completely out of the top 12, quite surprised to see Travis Kvapil and Casey Mears in the top 10, and very surprised when I saw that P.J. Jones had finished 11th.

"Wow," I said to the empty room, "I had no idea P.J. Jones was running that high."

When the results inevitably came around again, I watched to see if there had been any late changes. No changes, still surprised to see P.J. Jones in 11th. And that's when it finally hit me. P.J. Jones could not have finished that high, since P.J. Jones was not even in the race. The driver intended to be in that 11th slot was actually Robby Gordon; not quite as big a surprise as Jones, perhaps, but a bit of a shocker nonetheless.

I will resist the temptation right now to criticize ESPN for not having the correct participants. You know, since they consider themselves NASCAR experts these days.

Now, the point of that fascinating story, and I actually do have one, is that my relative stupidity in the Jones/Gordon fiasco illustrates exactly why NASCAR needs to get about 10 restrictor plate races on their schedule. Anything can, and often does, happen.

I'm not Darrell Waltrip or Larry McReynolds, but I do know a good bit about the sport. But even with my level of interest and experience, I was not in complete disbelief when I thought P.J. Jones had finished 11th at Talladega. That kind of thing can happen in a plate race, and that's why the masses love them. I know the drivers aren't big fans. If it were me putting my very life in peril by driving 200 miles per hour for four hours just inches away from a half dozen other cars, I might not like it so much. And racing purists, a group I don't exactly associate myself with, may not consider it real racing, but take off those NASCAR-issued rose colored glasses, and you'll see declining attendance, dwindling television ratings, and a general dampening of enthusiasm for NASCARs current product. Then, consider this quote from Denny Hamlin following the race.

"If the fans didn't like that, then they don't like racing."

Like it or not, that's the bottom line. I'll admit, I don't feel compelled to watch every lap at Dover, Pocono, even Indianapolis. But four times a year, I make sure to be in front of the tube for every lap at Daytona and 'Dega, because the "not real racing" is the most exciting, entertaining, and enjoyable product NASCAR has to offer. With the aforementioned drop in attendance and ratings, NASCAR should be doing whatever it can to get those eyes back and keep them glued to the tin tops. Laugh if you want, but the unification of open wheel racing will bring increased competition for fans. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen. A product such as the one Mr. Hamlin endorsed for the 'fans' would go a long way toward keeping NASCAR's fan base under the big tent.

And now that the purists hate me, I will refrain from putting forth the argument that another step that needs to be taken is the addition of another half-dozen road course races.

For now.

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